TLC 2016 Final Thought

As the last ALPSter standing — sitting actually* — in Portland, some additional disjointed commentary on the TLC:

If you expect to treat the TLC like a typical academic conference — parachute in to deliver a paper, then disappear — you’re better off not coming. The TLC is about exchanging ideas and building community, not adding a line to your c.v.

A potentially useful innovation for future TLCs: establish subfield-based mini-conferences during workshop times, for people who want to commune with like-minded specialists.

Why isn’t the TLC ever held in a Midwestern city? Flying cross-country is often problematic, and I’m sure colleagues who work far from the East and West Coasts feel neglected.

APSA should use the TLC as a springboard for initiating behavioral changes within itself and within political science programs at U.S. colleges and universities. The majority of political scientists spend the majority of their time teaching. Increasingly that teaching has to demonstrate value to administrators and legislators. APSA ought to be leading the charge in establishing benchmarks for undergraduate political science education and publicizing how and when those benchmarks are met.

*I have to leave the hotel in four hours. Should I nap or keep myself awake by pontificating on the internet?